# sketchy upmans from duty free



## stearns-cl (Feb 27, 2008)

for a long story short, i spent spring break in the uk (im still in london, but im leaving tomorrow morning). when i got here, i was anxious to grab some cubans, so i got a 3 pack of h upman tubes in the duty free at the airport for just 11 pounds. i ended up going to some famous smoke shops while walking around the city, so i bought some better smokes, granted they were three times the price, but delicious none the less. well, im just packing up to head home, and figured i should unband the upmans. this is my first time looking at them, and they are poor quality. one has what i believe to be mold on it, or green spots, the others look a bit inconsistent. they smell alright, but the bands are like nothing i've seen before, and much different from another upman i bought at la casa del habanos. im sure they aren't fake, considering everything else looks legit, and i bought them at duty free, but anyone have any clue as to whats going on? assuming its mold, do i have to toss the stick? any other advice?

pics:
















thanks
stearns


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## zemekone (Aug 1, 2004)

i think you are ok... dont toss them just smoke them...


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## stearns-cl (Feb 27, 2008)

only one has a lot of green spots, one has one spot, and the other looks alright. bet you can't guess which my friends are getting as souvenirs...

stearns


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## Darrell (Aug 12, 2007)

I would not worry, just smoke them. I did not know they still made them in the silver w/ black lettering tubos. Mine came in white tubos.


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## andy_mccabe501 (Oct 3, 2006)

I think the green bits are where water was on the leaf - and changed the sun light when it was growing (or something like that, i might be wrong)

Inside the tubo, was there a cedar sheet?


andy


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## Bax (Sep 12, 2007)

The green spots look more like wrapper discoloration, not mold. You're OK to go.


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## [OT] Loki (May 24, 2006)

band looks good, tube looks good. The tube I have has green writing on it but that could be because it's a different size. all in all I'd say smoke them


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## chippewastud79 (Sep 18, 2007)

Look OK to me, smoke 'em, hell you paid for 'em might as well smoke them.:2

Try hitting enter in between the posted pictures so you don't have to scroll across to see them. :tu


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## stearns-cl (Feb 27, 2008)

ya, there was cedar in there. thanks guys, i was a bit worried

stearns


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## zemekone (Aug 1, 2004)

Darrell said:


> I would not worry, just smoke them. I did not know they still made them in the silver w/ black lettering tubos. Mine came in white tubos.


the white tubes were released in mid/late 2007 i believe...


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## DennisP (May 13, 2007)

I've seen many problems with recent tubos and mold on Cubans.

The green is nothing to worry abou though.


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## stearns-cl (Feb 27, 2008)

i've always known that cs>me, but i have to say im impressed by how quick i just had a lot of info thrown at me. maybe thats just because its past midnight here in Britain, and i should be asleep considering i have to fly home tomorrow. the damn 18 year drinking age drained most of the cash i was planning on buying a box with. guess ill just grab a 5er or two

stearns


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## hk3 (Jan 29, 2008)

They look good to me! Just smoke them and then see how they are!


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## Tapewormboy (Apr 18, 2006)

Eh, Tubo Effect. :2


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## GOAT LOCKER (Aug 7, 2004)

:tpd: Pretty much what everyone else said... I would also hazard a guess that these are a few years old, and are the machine bunched, hand finished variety. The new version is supposed to be 100% hand made, and it shows in the construction. Enjoy!


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## stearns-cl (Feb 27, 2008)

ya, i figured considering i spent 11 pound on the three, when i spent 9 pounds on a single r+j petite corona (completely worth it by the way, so long as i dont convert in my head)

stearns


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## moki (Jan 12, 2004)

andy_mccabe501 said:


> I think the green bits are where water was on the leaf - and changed the sun light when it was growing (or something like that, i might be wrong)


You're right, but it is actually from improper or incomplete curing. The leaves are all green when they are brought in from the fields to be cured.


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## Bubba -NJ (Dec 6, 2005)

I read somewhere here on this great site that the green water spots are a good indicator of authentic Cuban tobacco . They do look a bit older to me but I'm far from an expert .


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## Silound (May 22, 2007)

They are real, I have no doubt of that.

Those are from the year range of early 2002 to early 2007, which is the year range the green-texted screw cap aluminum tube was made like that. This was a specific result of Altadis taking a controlling interest and reducing the number of vitolas made and changing up some of the existing ones.

All Coronas Minors/Majors were machine made and finished until 2002. After 2002, they were machine made, hand finished, and as of 2007 when the transition to the beige or white tube, the Majors are supposed to be hand made entirely. I haven't seen anything beyond a CA comment on that, and I haven't bought any post '07 Upmann's, so I can't verify much about how they're made now other than they have that new tube.

The funny thing about the Majors/Minors line is that they are very _very_ different year to year. During the 2002 to 2007 period, Altadis brought in changes to the production equipment that made a lot of small changes in the cigars and tubes over the five year stretch. As such, I have a handful purchased from an LCDH that each have an entirely different tube (either structural or cosmetic differences...I paid extra to get one from a variety of boxes because I was interested in seeing the difference in age) and the cigars have a noticeable change in construction quality and appearance.

Either way, rest assured those are consistent with the ones I have, right down to the crummy caps.


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## DBall (Jun 4, 2007)

Yup... that Upmann Corona Junior was the first legit habano I had (purchased in Niagara Falls). It's the same tube as yours... I know because I still have it...  It fits PC sized cigars wonderfully!


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## AsetOne (Feb 29, 2008)

I think the green spots on your cigar come from the wrapper not cured properly (feel free to correct me) as it does not look pronounced or fuzzy.

H.Upmann Tubos are ugly mofos. i have a coranaas major in my humi and it is ugly as sin, you will find most tubos are a lot uglier than their dress boxed counterparts.

They look legit to me, plus you said you got them in duty free, so smoke em up 

Thats my :2

James



stearns said:


> for a long story short, i spent spring break in the uk (im still in london, but im leaving tomorrow morning). when i got here, i was anxious to grab some cubans, so i got a 3 pack of h upman tubes in the duty free at the airport for just 11 pounds. i ended up going to some famous smoke shops while walking around the city, so i bought some better smokes, granted they were three times the price, but delicious none the less. well, im just packing up to head home, and figured i should unband the upmans. this is my first time looking at them, and they are poor quality. one has what i believe to be mold on it, or green spots, the others look a bit inconsistent. they smell alright, but the bands are like nothing i've seen before, and much different from another upman i bought at la casa del habanos. im sure they aren't fake, considering everything else looks legit, and i bought them at duty free, but anyone have any clue as to whats going on? assuming its mold, do i have to toss the stick? any other advice?
> 
> pics:
> 
> ...


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## NCRadioMan (Feb 28, 2005)

AsetOne said:


> I think the green spots on your cigar come from the wrapper not cured properly (feel free to correct me)


The small green spots are actually water spots that occured during the curing process. Very common.


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## moki (Jan 12, 2004)

Bubba -NJ said:


> I read somewhere here on this great site that the green water spots are a good indicator of authentic Cuban tobacco . They do look a bit older to me but I'm far from an expert .


Nah, it's just a good indicator of tobacco that was sloppily cured


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## AsetOne (Feb 29, 2008)

NCRadioMan said:


> The small green spots are actually water spots that occured during the curing process. Very common.


ah, i stand corrected 
Thankyou NCradioman 

James


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## stearns-cl (Feb 27, 2008)

call me crazy, but i smoked one tonight, and i thought it was a lot better than my h.upman corona (non tubo) i had last night. who knows, maybe it was the situation, because i was with my friends, and last night i was alone walking around london on my last night there with heavy wind. either way, they were very much enjoyed, thanks for the info

stearns


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## Fredster (Jan 26, 2004)

When wrapper is shade grown (like Connecticut Shade) you don't get the green spots. Usually indicates it's Cuban wrapper which is cured in the sun. Think it might be where netting or something blocks the sun?


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## moki (Jan 12, 2004)

Fredster said:


> When wrapper is shade grown (like Connecticut Shade) you don't get the green spots. Usually indicates it's Cuban wrapper which is cured in the sun. Think it might be where netting or something blocks the sun?


Nah, you can get these green spots from shade grown tobacco too. Again, tobacco is green when it comes from the field... it makes no difference whether it is shade grown, sun grown, cloud grown, whatever.

It is in the curing process that these spots can appear. Tobacco is generally cured in 3 different ways: air, fire, and flue. Tobacco can also be sun cured, but that's less common, and that is not how they cure tobacco in Cuba (it is air cured in ventilated barns, and more recently, flue cured in some circumstances).


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